Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Just like Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol takes us on a journey into past, present and future in the time of only one Christmas Eve, two of the European Southern Observatory's telescopes captured various stages in the life of a star in a single image. See article.
g Abodes - The Chicxulub meteorite impact is largely credited with the extinction of 50 percent of the world's species, including the dinosaurs. But could there have been more than one meteorite impact 65 million years ago? See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Life - Researchers at the University of Utah have discovered that when a gene called smedwi-2 is silenced in the adult stem cells of planarians, the quarter-inch long worm is unable to carry out a biological process that has mystified scientists for centuries: regeneration. See article.
g Intelligence - A gene known to be important for brain development is more active in humans than in apes, a discovery that might have played a key role in human evolution. See article.
g Message - Should we be looking for extraterrestrial civilizations, rather than just listening for them, as we do in the SETI project? That is the suggestion of a French astronomer, Luc Arnold, in his paper “Transit Lightcurve Signatures of Artificial Objects.” He believes that the transit of large artificial objects in front of a sun could be a used for the emission of attention-getting signals. See article.
g Cosmicus - Frequent flyer miles will for the first time be good beyond this planet, based on a new offering from Virgin Atlantic airways and its space-related sister company Virgin Galactic. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Imagine Mars.” A national arts, science and technology initiative that challenges young people to imagine and design a livable Mars community of the future. See article.
g Imagining - Here’s a neat Web site: The Exorarium. At the Exorarium, visitors get a chance to mix and match the same ingredients that brought about human life, shaping their own unique intelligent life forms. For example, you might start with a hot or cool star, a heavy or light planet, one with lots of water or a desert world, and so on – until a unique ecosystem takes shape before your eyes … a family tree leading to the ultimate outcome, a species of intelligent life. See article.
g Aftermath - “If we are able to find one extraterrestrial civilization, we should be able to find many,” according to the paper “Networking with our Galactic Neighbors.” “By the year 3000 either we will have abandoned the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or we will have made progress networking with other civilizations in our galaxy. One alternative is that we will first detect a civilization that, like our own, has not yet confirmed the existence of other distant civilizations. This success will accelerate our search efforts and put us in touch, one by one, with many more extraterrestrial societies. Under this alternative we would be founding members of the Galactic Club, that is the largest network of communicating civilizations within our galaxy. Another alternative is that our initial contact will be with a civilization that is already affiliated with the Galactic Club, with the result that we ourselves are offered membership. Whether we help build the first network of civilizations or are inducted into a pre-existing network could have profound implications for Humanity 3000.” For more, read paper. Note: This paper was released in 2000.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Friday, December 30, 2005
Astrochemistry, evolving at different rates and Spaceport New Mexico
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Astronomers have made the most detailed observation yet of the subtle vibrations of a Sun-like star. The technique reveals details of the star's interior that cannot be studied any other way. See article.
g Abodes - Book alert: “Astrochemistry,” by Andrew Shaw, is a basic introduction to the chemistry and physics of atmospheres other than Earth's. It is based on a second year chemistry course and assumes some knowledge of physical and organic chemistry along with some basic physics. Little prior knowledge of biology or astrophysics is assumed. Starting with an introduction to the chemical universe, the text covers stellar, meteorite, comet and planetary chemistry, before covering prebiotic chemistry and life in the solar system. Results from the latest research have been included throughout. See article.
g Life - Species evolve at very different rates, and the evolutionary line that produced humans seems to be among the slowest. The result, according to a new study by scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is that our species has retained characteristics of a very ancient ancestor that have been lost in more quickly-evolving animals. This overturns a commonly held view of the nature of genes in the first animals. The work appears in the current issue of the journal Science. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers have discovered a gene that controls the ability to react with appropriate fear to impending danger. As a result, mice lacking the gene stathmin become daredevils of a sort, the researchers report. The basic findings may have general implications for the study of anxiety disorders and potential anti-anxiety drugs, according to researchers. See article.
g Message - A new radio telescope array has been developed by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute and the University of California at Berkeley that will shed some cosmic noise, and give scientists a better view of one million stars scattered throughout the universe. See article.
g Cosmicus - The public space travel company, Virgin Galactic, has identified a new departure point for flying people to the suborbital heights: New Mexico. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Remote Sensing.” In this lesson, students discover how remote sensing is used to identify the signatures of life even when the particular life form is not directly observable. See article.
g Imagining - Are there any alternatives to DNA or RNA, as an “X-Files” episode said there was? See article.
g Aftermath - Some of the best discussion of the consequences of alien contact occurs in science fiction. Here’s a novel that ranks among the most important in that dialogue: Arthur C. Clark’s “Songs of a Distant Earth.” Look for it at your library or local used bookstore.
g Stars - Astronomers have made the most detailed observation yet of the subtle vibrations of a Sun-like star. The technique reveals details of the star's interior that cannot be studied any other way. See article.
g Abodes - Book alert: “Astrochemistry,” by Andrew Shaw, is a basic introduction to the chemistry and physics of atmospheres other than Earth's. It is based on a second year chemistry course and assumes some knowledge of physical and organic chemistry along with some basic physics. Little prior knowledge of biology or astrophysics is assumed. Starting with an introduction to the chemical universe, the text covers stellar, meteorite, comet and planetary chemistry, before covering prebiotic chemistry and life in the solar system. Results from the latest research have been included throughout. See article.
g Life - Species evolve at very different rates, and the evolutionary line that produced humans seems to be among the slowest. The result, according to a new study by scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is that our species has retained characteristics of a very ancient ancestor that have been lost in more quickly-evolving animals. This overturns a commonly held view of the nature of genes in the first animals. The work appears in the current issue of the journal Science. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers have discovered a gene that controls the ability to react with appropriate fear to impending danger. As a result, mice lacking the gene stathmin become daredevils of a sort, the researchers report. The basic findings may have general implications for the study of anxiety disorders and potential anti-anxiety drugs, according to researchers. See article.
g Message - A new radio telescope array has been developed by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute and the University of California at Berkeley that will shed some cosmic noise, and give scientists a better view of one million stars scattered throughout the universe. See article.
g Cosmicus - The public space travel company, Virgin Galactic, has identified a new departure point for flying people to the suborbital heights: New Mexico. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Remote Sensing.” In this lesson, students discover how remote sensing is used to identify the signatures of life even when the particular life form is not directly observable. See article.
g Imagining - Are there any alternatives to DNA or RNA, as an “X-Files” episode said there was? See article.
g Aftermath - Some of the best discussion of the consequences of alien contact occurs in science fiction. Here’s a novel that ranks among the most important in that dialogue: Arthur C. Clark’s “Songs of a Distant Earth.” Look for it at your library or local used bookstore.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Methane’s rise, Harvard SETI and 50-year plan for the human exploration of the solar system
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - The Perseus spiral arm - the nearest spiral arm in the Milky Way outside the Sun's orbit - lies only half as far from Earth as some previous studies had suggested, according to an international team of astronomers. See article.
g Abodes - Considered suggestive of life, an atmosphere of methane on another planet is considered one of the four best candidates for detecting habitable conditions using remote sensing and telescope spectrographs. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Life - Book alert: How did life originate in the universe? How did it all start after the creation of matter and the formation of elements in the stars? What are the pathways from the first organic molecules in space to the evolution of complex life forms on Earth and perhaps elsewhere? And how will it all end? The universe itself sets the stage for the very interdisciplinary field of astrobiology that attempts to answer such questions, the central one being: What is the (cosmic) recipe for life? Currently there are only very few known elements in this vast mosaic. “Astrobiology : The Quest for the Conditions of Life,” by Gerda Horneck (editor), Christa Baumstark-Khan (editor), bridges a gap in the literature by bringing together leading specialists from different backgrounds who lecture on their fields, with close relevance to astrobiology, providing tutorial accounts that lead all the way to the forefront of research. The book will thus be useful for students, lecturers and researchers alike. See article.
g Intelligence - Happiness in old age may have more to do with attitude than actual health, a new study suggests. See article.
g Message - The Harvard SETI Group have conducted several searches for extraterrestrial life since 1978. For a history of those searches, see http://seti.harvard.edu/seti/setihist.html.
g Cosmicus - Shortly after the loss of shuttle Columbia, Florida Today dispatched its space reporters on a mission not only to cover the accident, but also to examine the future of human spaceflight. Their research demonstrates that grander space goals are achievable at a price that does not require taking resources from other important national and world concerns. In a bold and forward-thinking move, the newspaper proposed a 50-year plan for the human exploration of the solar system. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “The Rare Earth.” In this activity students systematically investigate the time frame for complex life to develop on Earth. See article.
g Imagining - Could the Pak of Larry Niven's Ringworld universe possibly evolve? They've got a homepage to discuss that and other questions about the intriguing fiction alien race. See article.
g Aftermath - An Outside Context Problem or an OCP is any problem outside given organization or society experience, with an immediate, ubiquitous and lasting impact upon an entire culture or civilization — such as first contact with extraterrestrials. See article.
g Stars - The Perseus spiral arm - the nearest spiral arm in the Milky Way outside the Sun's orbit - lies only half as far from Earth as some previous studies had suggested, according to an international team of astronomers. See article.
g Abodes - Considered suggestive of life, an atmosphere of methane on another planet is considered one of the four best candidates for detecting habitable conditions using remote sensing and telescope spectrographs. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Life - Book alert: How did life originate in the universe? How did it all start after the creation of matter and the formation of elements in the stars? What are the pathways from the first organic molecules in space to the evolution of complex life forms on Earth and perhaps elsewhere? And how will it all end? The universe itself sets the stage for the very interdisciplinary field of astrobiology that attempts to answer such questions, the central one being: What is the (cosmic) recipe for life? Currently there are only very few known elements in this vast mosaic. “Astrobiology : The Quest for the Conditions of Life,” by Gerda Horneck (editor), Christa Baumstark-Khan (editor), bridges a gap in the literature by bringing together leading specialists from different backgrounds who lecture on their fields, with close relevance to astrobiology, providing tutorial accounts that lead all the way to the forefront of research. The book will thus be useful for students, lecturers and researchers alike. See article.
g Intelligence - Happiness in old age may have more to do with attitude than actual health, a new study suggests. See article.
g Message - The Harvard SETI Group have conducted several searches for extraterrestrial life since 1978. For a history of those searches, see http://seti.harvard.edu/seti/setihist.html.
g Cosmicus - Shortly after the loss of shuttle Columbia, Florida Today dispatched its space reporters on a mission not only to cover the accident, but also to examine the future of human spaceflight. Their research demonstrates that grander space goals are achievable at a price that does not require taking resources from other important national and world concerns. In a bold and forward-thinking move, the newspaper proposed a 50-year plan for the human exploration of the solar system. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “The Rare Earth.” In this activity students systematically investigate the time frame for complex life to develop on Earth. See article.
g Imagining - Could the Pak of Larry Niven's Ringworld universe possibly evolve? They've got a homepage to discuss that and other questions about the intriguing fiction alien race. See article.
g Aftermath - An Outside Context Problem or an OCP is any problem outside given organization or society experience, with an immediate, ubiquitous and lasting impact upon an entire culture or civilization — such as first contact with extraterrestrials. See article.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Space sports, ‘The First Manned Mission to Mars’ and exosociology on the question of how interstellar contact
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Although astronomers have been looking at the stars for thousands of years, they never paid much attention to the stuff between the stars. What could there be between the stars? Is it completely empty? The answer is simple: No! There is a lot of interesting material between the stars. See article.
g Abodes - The Moon's surface cooled and solidified to make its current gray and white face more than 4.5 billion years ago, say researchers who have applied new dating techniques to rocks brought back by Apollo astronauts. See article.
g Life - How life began. This problem really permeates much of humankind, societies and cultures past and present. Some have evoked a supreme being to explain the origin of life; others look to the scientific method to provide answers. Regardless of the position, there have been at least two extremely exciting discoveries or reports that really change the nature of the game. The first one is the discovery of planets around nearby stars. There are other solar systems in space. That's very important. The other discovery is the possibility that life existed on Mars. See article. For related stories, see “Just Keeps Going and Going...” and “The Rovers That Just Won't Stop”.
g Intelligence - For decades it has been believed that the first peoples to populate North and South America crossed over from Siberia by way of the Bering Strait on a land-ice bridge. However, a new study examining the largest collection of South American skulls ever assembled suggests that a different population may have crossed the bridge to the New World 3,000 years before those Siberians. See article.
g Message - There are several scientific lines of thought on extra-terrestrial life. Several of the most common are mentioned in this summer's movie Contact, based on a book by E.T. life guru Carl Sagan. See article.
g Cosmicus - Given the growth of passenger space travel, space sports of one type or another are likely. If so, could orbiting stadiums be far behind? See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “The First Manned Mission to Mars”. In this activity, students plan that trip.
g Imagining - There’s a neat Web site, Sector 001, that reviews the appearance of dozens of “Star Trek” aliens. It also includes some speculations about each one, particularly why so many are humanoid.
g Aftermath - Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence depends as much upon social support for the project as upon appropriate engineering design and upon the actual existence of a nearby extrasolar civilization. The results of a sociological survey of 1,465 American college students provide the first detailed analysis of the social and ideological factors that influence support for CETI, thereby suggesting ways that support might be increased. Linked to the most idealistic goals of the space program, notably interplanetary colonization, enthusiasm for CETI is little affected by attitudes toward technology or militarism. Few sciences or scholarly fields encourage CETI, with the exceptions of anthropology and astronomy. Support is somewhat greater among men than among women, but the sex difference is far less than in attitudes toward space flight in general. Evangelical Protestantism, represented by the "Born Again" movement, strongly discourages support for CETI. Just as exobiology begins with an understanding of terrestrial biology, exosociology on the question of how interstellar contact can be achieved should begin with serious sociological study of factors operating on our own world. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - Although astronomers have been looking at the stars for thousands of years, they never paid much attention to the stuff between the stars. What could there be between the stars? Is it completely empty? The answer is simple: No! There is a lot of interesting material between the stars. See article.
g Abodes - The Moon's surface cooled and solidified to make its current gray and white face more than 4.5 billion years ago, say researchers who have applied new dating techniques to rocks brought back by Apollo astronauts. See article.
g Life - How life began. This problem really permeates much of humankind, societies and cultures past and present. Some have evoked a supreme being to explain the origin of life; others look to the scientific method to provide answers. Regardless of the position, there have been at least two extremely exciting discoveries or reports that really change the nature of the game. The first one is the discovery of planets around nearby stars. There are other solar systems in space. That's very important. The other discovery is the possibility that life existed on Mars. See article. For related stories, see “Just Keeps Going and Going...” and “The Rovers That Just Won't Stop”.
g Intelligence - For decades it has been believed that the first peoples to populate North and South America crossed over from Siberia by way of the Bering Strait on a land-ice bridge. However, a new study examining the largest collection of South American skulls ever assembled suggests that a different population may have crossed the bridge to the New World 3,000 years before those Siberians. See article.
g Message - There are several scientific lines of thought on extra-terrestrial life. Several of the most common are mentioned in this summer's movie Contact, based on a book by E.T. life guru Carl Sagan. See article.
g Cosmicus - Given the growth of passenger space travel, space sports of one type or another are likely. If so, could orbiting stadiums be far behind? See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “The First Manned Mission to Mars”. In this activity, students plan that trip.
g Imagining - There’s a neat Web site, Sector 001, that reviews the appearance of dozens of “Star Trek” aliens. It also includes some speculations about each one, particularly why so many are humanoid.
g Aftermath - Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence depends as much upon social support for the project as upon appropriate engineering design and upon the actual existence of a nearby extrasolar civilization. The results of a sociological survey of 1,465 American college students provide the first detailed analysis of the social and ideological factors that influence support for CETI, thereby suggesting ways that support might be increased. Linked to the most idealistic goals of the space program, notably interplanetary colonization, enthusiasm for CETI is little affected by attitudes toward technology or militarism. Few sciences or scholarly fields encourage CETI, with the exceptions of anthropology and astronomy. Support is somewhat greater among men than among women, but the sex difference is far less than in attitudes toward space flight in general. Evangelical Protestantism, represented by the "Born Again" movement, strongly discourages support for CETI. Just as exobiology begins with an understanding of terrestrial biology, exosociology on the question of how interstellar contact can be achieved should begin with serious sociological study of factors operating on our own world. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Hot primordial soup, impacts of space activities and limits of life on Earth
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - From the beginnings of the solar system billions of years ago, life on Earth has been dependent on the Sun as an energy source. The light and heat from the Sun have played a fundamental role in creating the conditions for terrestrial life to expand and flourish beyond its initial geothermal niches. Thus, understanding the formation of stars like the Sun is a key step toward understanding the emergence of life in the universe. Recent studies of star formation make it increasingly clear that the classic view of stars forming in isolation is atypical. A better understanding of star formation involves multiple systems, where two or more stars form in close proximity and affect each other's early evolution. In using this new approach, a large number of previously unexplained phenomena are a natural outcome of these multiple stars interacting with one another. See article.
g Abodes - Evidence suggests that the interior of the Chilean Atacama Desert, the most arid region on Earth, contains no living organisms. Yet, where the desert meets the Pacific Coastal Range, desiccation-tolerant microorganisms are known to exist. The gradient of biodiversity and habitats of life in the Atacama’s subregions remain unexplored. See article.
g Life - A new theory that explains why the language of our genes is more complex than it needs to be also suggests that the primordial soup where life began on Earth was hot and not cold, as many scientists believe. See article.
g Intelligence - It sounds like an infomercial from late-night TV: Follow this four-step plan and improve your memory in just 14 days! But researchers have indeed found a way to improve memory function in older people. After a two-week study that involved brainteasers, exercise and diet changes, study participants' memories worked more efficiently. See article.
g Message - For the past few decades, many astronomers (especially those who work on radio wavelength!) have been fascinated with the idea of communicating with intelligent technological civilizations (who have developed radio or laser communication). Among the first leading radio astronomers in this direction was Frank Drake who suggested an empirical relation for estimating the number of such civilizations in our galaxy. See article.
g Cosmicus - As the 21st century gets underway, the impact of space activities upon the welfare of humanity only will increase. See article.
g Learning - Here’s an interesting classroom activity: “Who Can Live Here?” Students explore the limits of life on Earth to extend their beliefs about life to include its possibility on other worlds.
g Imagining - Traditional science fiction has aliens who speak some form of English or resemble humans. The problem is, chances are slim that non-terrestrial life will have such earthling-like traits. Chemists at the University of Florida hope to overcome that obstacle by figuring out what alien life might look like. See article. Note: This article is from 1998.
g Aftermath - Epicurus, in the fourth century BC, believed that the universe contained other worlds like our own, and since his time there has been considerable debate whether extraterrestrial life exists and might communicate with us. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, an international social movement — Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence — has emerged which advocates an attempt to achieve communication with extraterrestrial intelligence, and many of its most active members have been leading scientists. Modest efforts to detect radio signals from intelligent extraterrestrials already have been made, both under government aegis and privately funded, and the technical means for a more vigorous search have been developed. If a CETI project were successful, linguists would suddenly have one or more utterly alien languages to study, and some consideration of linguistic issues is a necessary preparation for it. See article.
Read this blogger's books
g Stars - From the beginnings of the solar system billions of years ago, life on Earth has been dependent on the Sun as an energy source. The light and heat from the Sun have played a fundamental role in creating the conditions for terrestrial life to expand and flourish beyond its initial geothermal niches. Thus, understanding the formation of stars like the Sun is a key step toward understanding the emergence of life in the universe. Recent studies of star formation make it increasingly clear that the classic view of stars forming in isolation is atypical. A better understanding of star formation involves multiple systems, where two or more stars form in close proximity and affect each other's early evolution. In using this new approach, a large number of previously unexplained phenomena are a natural outcome of these multiple stars interacting with one another. See article.
g Abodes - Evidence suggests that the interior of the Chilean Atacama Desert, the most arid region on Earth, contains no living organisms. Yet, where the desert meets the Pacific Coastal Range, desiccation-tolerant microorganisms are known to exist. The gradient of biodiversity and habitats of life in the Atacama’s subregions remain unexplored. See article.
g Life - A new theory that explains why the language of our genes is more complex than it needs to be also suggests that the primordial soup where life began on Earth was hot and not cold, as many scientists believe. See article.
g Intelligence - It sounds like an infomercial from late-night TV: Follow this four-step plan and improve your memory in just 14 days! But researchers have indeed found a way to improve memory function in older people. After a two-week study that involved brainteasers, exercise and diet changes, study participants' memories worked more efficiently. See article.
g Message - For the past few decades, many astronomers (especially those who work on radio wavelength!) have been fascinated with the idea of communicating with intelligent technological civilizations (who have developed radio or laser communication). Among the first leading radio astronomers in this direction was Frank Drake who suggested an empirical relation for estimating the number of such civilizations in our galaxy. See article.
g Cosmicus - As the 21st century gets underway, the impact of space activities upon the welfare of humanity only will increase. See article.
g Learning - Here’s an interesting classroom activity: “Who Can Live Here?” Students explore the limits of life on Earth to extend their beliefs about life to include its possibility on other worlds.
g Imagining - Traditional science fiction has aliens who speak some form of English or resemble humans. The problem is, chances are slim that non-terrestrial life will have such earthling-like traits. Chemists at the University of Florida hope to overcome that obstacle by figuring out what alien life might look like. See article. Note: This article is from 1998.
g Aftermath - Epicurus, in the fourth century BC, believed that the universe contained other worlds like our own, and since his time there has been considerable debate whether extraterrestrial life exists and might communicate with us. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, an international social movement — Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence — has emerged which advocates an attempt to achieve communication with extraterrestrial intelligence, and many of its most active members have been leading scientists. Modest efforts to detect radio signals from intelligent extraterrestrials already have been made, both under government aegis and privately funded, and the technical means for a more vigorous search have been developed. If a CETI project were successful, linguists would suddenly have one or more utterly alien languages to study, and some consideration of linguistic issues is a necessary preparation for it. See article.
Read this blogger's books
Monday, December 26, 2005
Space settlement, ‘A Case of the Wobbles’ and Olympics calling card to ET
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Only a few types of stars are likely to support planetary systems. For a planetary system to exist, the presence of dust, or at least some type of solid material, is necessary. Without several generations of stellar cycling to produce these elements, no planets could form. See article.
g Abodes - A University of California, Berkeley, study of methane-producing bacteria frozen at the bottom of Greenland's two-mile thick ice sheet could help guide scientists searching for similar bacterial life on Mars. See article.
g Life - To appear in the fossil record prominently, an animal needs to leave a hard remnant after death, like a shell or bone. The earliest candidates for many are the 400-million year old forbears of crabs and lobsters, which are now linked in the fossil record to one of the most barren places on the planet, Siberia. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Intelligence - Neurobiologists have gained new insights into how neurons control growth of the intricate tracery of branches called dendrites that enable them to connect with their neighbors. Dendritic connections are the basic receiving stations by which neurons form the signaling networks that constitute the brain's circuitry. See article.
g Message - Our most efficient attempts to broadcast our planet's existence to another civilization would resemble the thermal radiation emitted by stars. By analogy, more advanced worlds would likely do the same, making our chances of listening in hard to distinguish from hearing stellar noise. See article. Note: This article is from late 2004.
g Cosmicus - Space settlement is a unique concept for colonization beyond the Earth. While most thinking regarding the expansion of the human race outward into space has focused on the colonization of the surfaces of other planets, the space settlement concept suggests that planetary surfaces may not be the best location for extraterrestrial colonies. Artificial, closed-ecology habitats in free orbit would seem to have many advantages over any planetary home (Earth included). See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “A Case of the Wobbles”. Students plot and analyze NASA data to determine the period of an invisible planet orbiting a wobbling star.
g Imagining - In popular fiction and conspiracy theories, life forms, especially intelligent life forms, that are of extraterrestrial origin, i.e. not coming from the Earth are referred to as alien and collectively as aliens. Prime examples of how aliens are viewed are found in the movies Alien, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Signs, Independence Day, and The War of the Worlds. This usage is clearly anthropocentric: When humans in fictional accounts accomplish interstellar travel and land on a planet elsewhere in the universe, the local inhabitants of these other planets are usually still referred to as "alien," even though they are the native life form and the humans are the intruders. In general they are seen as unfriendly life forms. This may be seen as a reversion to the classic meaning of "alien" as referring to "other," in contrast to "us" in the context of the writer's frame of reference. See article.
g Aftermath - As preparations for the return of the Olympics Games to their ancestral home in Athens neared completion, some began to wonder whether the Olympics has been our diplomatic calling card in other places beyond the home planet. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
Read this blogger's books
g Stars - Only a few types of stars are likely to support planetary systems. For a planetary system to exist, the presence of dust, or at least some type of solid material, is necessary. Without several generations of stellar cycling to produce these elements, no planets could form. See article.
g Abodes - A University of California, Berkeley, study of methane-producing bacteria frozen at the bottom of Greenland's two-mile thick ice sheet could help guide scientists searching for similar bacterial life on Mars. See article.
g Life - To appear in the fossil record prominently, an animal needs to leave a hard remnant after death, like a shell or bone. The earliest candidates for many are the 400-million year old forbears of crabs and lobsters, which are now linked in the fossil record to one of the most barren places on the planet, Siberia. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Intelligence - Neurobiologists have gained new insights into how neurons control growth of the intricate tracery of branches called dendrites that enable them to connect with their neighbors. Dendritic connections are the basic receiving stations by which neurons form the signaling networks that constitute the brain's circuitry. See article.
g Message - Our most efficient attempts to broadcast our planet's existence to another civilization would resemble the thermal radiation emitted by stars. By analogy, more advanced worlds would likely do the same, making our chances of listening in hard to distinguish from hearing stellar noise. See article. Note: This article is from late 2004.
g Cosmicus - Space settlement is a unique concept for colonization beyond the Earth. While most thinking regarding the expansion of the human race outward into space has focused on the colonization of the surfaces of other planets, the space settlement concept suggests that planetary surfaces may not be the best location for extraterrestrial colonies. Artificial, closed-ecology habitats in free orbit would seem to have many advantages over any planetary home (Earth included). See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “A Case of the Wobbles”. Students plot and analyze NASA data to determine the period of an invisible planet orbiting a wobbling star.
g Imagining - In popular fiction and conspiracy theories, life forms, especially intelligent life forms, that are of extraterrestrial origin, i.e. not coming from the Earth are referred to as alien and collectively as aliens. Prime examples of how aliens are viewed are found in the movies Alien, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Signs, Independence Day, and The War of the Worlds. This usage is clearly anthropocentric: When humans in fictional accounts accomplish interstellar travel and land on a planet elsewhere in the universe, the local inhabitants of these other planets are usually still referred to as "alien," even though they are the native life form and the humans are the intruders. In general they are seen as unfriendly life forms. This may be seen as a reversion to the classic meaning of "alien" as referring to "other," in contrast to "us" in the context of the writer's frame of reference. See article.
g Aftermath - As preparations for the return of the Olympics Games to their ancestral home in Athens neared completion, some began to wonder whether the Olympics has been our diplomatic calling card in other places beyond the home planet. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
Read this blogger's books
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Mars’ auroras, Vision for Space Exploration and ‘Are We Alone?’
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - For the first time, researchers at Rice University have succeeded in creating and observing an elusive and long-sought quantum state - a superfluid of fermions with mismatched numbers of dance partners. The experiments offer physicists a new window into two of the least understood and most intriguing phenomena in physics - superconductivity and superfluidity. See article.
g Abodes - Auroras similar to Earth's Northern Lights appear to be common on Mars, according to physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, who have analyzed six years' worth of data from the Mars Global Surveyor. See article.
g Life - By comparing foxes selected for tameness with others that have not been selected in this way, researchers have found evidence that dramatic behavioral and physiological changes accompanying tameness may be associated with only limited changes in gene activity in the brain. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers have discovered the first brain regulatory gene that shows clear evidence of evolution from lower primates to humans. They said the evolution of humans might well have depended in part on hyperactivation of the gene, called prodynorphin, that plays critical roles in regulating perception, behavior and memory. See article.
g Message - Most people see SETI as a project for merely listening for signals from other stars, but Yvan Dutil and Stephane Dumas from the Defence Research Establishment Valcartier in Canada had other ideas in mind when they composed a message sent to the stars in 1999. See article. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Cosmicus - On Sept. 19 NASA Administrator Mike Griffin revealed the agency’s new plan for implementing the president’s Vision for Space Exploration. The plan has significant positive and negative features. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “The Drake Equation”. Students examine the range and definition of each variable comprising the Drake Equation and evaluate how changes in the variables influence their result.
g Imagining - The alien invasion is a common theme in science fiction stories and film, in which a technologically-superior extraterrestrial society invades Earth with the intent to replace human life, or to enslave it under a colonial system. But would aliens actually ever attack another planet? See article.
g Aftermath - Book alert: The authentic discovery of extraterrestrial life would usher in a scientific revolution on par with Copernicus or Darwin, writes Paul Davies in “Are We Alone?: Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life”. Just as these ideas sparked religious and philosophical controversy when they were first offered, so would proof of life arising away from Earth. With this brief book (160 pages, including two appendices and an index), Davies tries to get ahead of the curve and begin to sort out the metaphysical mess before it happens. Many science fiction writers have preceded him, of course, but here the matter is plainly put. This is a very good introduction to a compelling subject.
Read this blogger's books
g Stars - For the first time, researchers at Rice University have succeeded in creating and observing an elusive and long-sought quantum state - a superfluid of fermions with mismatched numbers of dance partners. The experiments offer physicists a new window into two of the least understood and most intriguing phenomena in physics - superconductivity and superfluidity. See article.
g Abodes - Auroras similar to Earth's Northern Lights appear to be common on Mars, according to physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, who have analyzed six years' worth of data from the Mars Global Surveyor. See article.
g Life - By comparing foxes selected for tameness with others that have not been selected in this way, researchers have found evidence that dramatic behavioral and physiological changes accompanying tameness may be associated with only limited changes in gene activity in the brain. See article.
g Intelligence - Researchers have discovered the first brain regulatory gene that shows clear evidence of evolution from lower primates to humans. They said the evolution of humans might well have depended in part on hyperactivation of the gene, called prodynorphin, that plays critical roles in regulating perception, behavior and memory. See article.
g Message - Most people see SETI as a project for merely listening for signals from other stars, but Yvan Dutil and Stephane Dumas from the Defence Research Establishment Valcartier in Canada had other ideas in mind when they composed a message sent to the stars in 1999. See article. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Cosmicus - On Sept. 19 NASA Administrator Mike Griffin revealed the agency’s new plan for implementing the president’s Vision for Space Exploration. The plan has significant positive and negative features. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “The Drake Equation”. Students examine the range and definition of each variable comprising the Drake Equation and evaluate how changes in the variables influence their result.
g Imagining - The alien invasion is a common theme in science fiction stories and film, in which a technologically-superior extraterrestrial society invades Earth with the intent to replace human life, or to enslave it under a colonial system. But would aliens actually ever attack another planet? See article.
g Aftermath - Book alert: The authentic discovery of extraterrestrial life would usher in a scientific revolution on par with Copernicus or Darwin, writes Paul Davies in “Are We Alone?: Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life”. Just as these ideas sparked religious and philosophical controversy when they were first offered, so would proof of life arising away from Earth. With this brief book (160 pages, including two appendices and an index), Davies tries to get ahead of the curve and begin to sort out the metaphysical mess before it happens. Many science fiction writers have preceded him, of course, but here the matter is plainly put. This is a very good introduction to a compelling subject.
Read this blogger's books
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Reptile family tree, Crew Launch Vehicle and Virginia’s bad attitude toward the truth
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Just as we have found that our planet represents a tightly intertwined ecology involving all living things, the future of astrobiology likely will reveal that Earth is part of a galactic ecology and that life here, and elsewhere, is intermeshed with and dependent upon astronomical events – such as supernovae - throughout the galaxy. See article. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Abodes - The hunt for life on Mars likely will be a fossil hunt, but the hunt for life on Europa will be for actual life. See article.
g Life - The most comprehensive analysis ever performed of the genetic relationships among all the major groups of snakes, lizards and other scaly reptiles has resulted in a radical reorganization of the family tree of these animals, requiring new names for many of the tree's new branches. See article.
g Intelligence - The brain responds emotionally and often illogically when forced to make decisions based on little or conflicting evidence, a new study suggests. See article.
g Message - Extraterrestrial civilizations may find it more efficient to communicate by sending material objects across interstellar distances rather than beams of electromagnetic radiation. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - As expected, shuttle solid-fuel rocket builder Alliant Techsystems - ATK - will be the prime contractor for design and development of the first stage of NASA's next-generation Crew Launch Vehicle, intended to propel astronauts into low-Earth orbit after the space shuttle's retirement in 2010. See article.
g Learning - Teachers in Virginia's public schools aren't encouraged to teach the theory that humans evolved from primates. See article.
g Imagining - Since no extraterrestrial life forms have been conclusively discovered, alien physiology lies in the realm of our imagination. See article.
g Aftermath - The scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence is accelerating its pace and adopting fresh strategies. This increases the likelihood of successful detection in the near future. Humanity's first contact with alien intelligence will trigger extraordinary attention from the media, from government authorities, and from the general public. By improving our readiness for contact, especially for security during the first 30 days, we can avoid the most negative scenarios — and also enhance humanity's benefits from this first contact with an alien intelligence. Six potential problem areas include communicating with the media and the public, communicating with scientific colleagues, government control, an assassin or saboteur, well-meaning officials and lawsuits. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - Just as we have found that our planet represents a tightly intertwined ecology involving all living things, the future of astrobiology likely will reveal that Earth is part of a galactic ecology and that life here, and elsewhere, is intermeshed with and dependent upon astronomical events – such as supernovae - throughout the galaxy. See article. Note: This article is from 2000.
g Abodes - The hunt for life on Mars likely will be a fossil hunt, but the hunt for life on Europa will be for actual life. See article.
g Life - The most comprehensive analysis ever performed of the genetic relationships among all the major groups of snakes, lizards and other scaly reptiles has resulted in a radical reorganization of the family tree of these animals, requiring new names for many of the tree's new branches. See article.
g Intelligence - The brain responds emotionally and often illogically when forced to make decisions based on little or conflicting evidence, a new study suggests. See article.
g Message - Extraterrestrial civilizations may find it more efficient to communicate by sending material objects across interstellar distances rather than beams of electromagnetic radiation. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Cosmicus - As expected, shuttle solid-fuel rocket builder Alliant Techsystems - ATK - will be the prime contractor for design and development of the first stage of NASA's next-generation Crew Launch Vehicle, intended to propel astronauts into low-Earth orbit after the space shuttle's retirement in 2010. See article.
g Learning - Teachers in Virginia's public schools aren't encouraged to teach the theory that humans evolved from primates. See article.
g Imagining - Since no extraterrestrial life forms have been conclusively discovered, alien physiology lies in the realm of our imagination. See article.
g Aftermath - The scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence is accelerating its pace and adopting fresh strategies. This increases the likelihood of successful detection in the near future. Humanity's first contact with alien intelligence will trigger extraordinary attention from the media, from government authorities, and from the general public. By improving our readiness for contact, especially for security during the first 30 days, we can avoid the most negative scenarios — and also enhance humanity's benefits from this first contact with an alien intelligence. Six potential problem areas include communicating with the media and the public, communicating with scientific colleagues, government control, an assassin or saboteur, well-meaning officials and lawsuits. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Friday, December 23, 2005
Galaxy’s center, ‘Life in the Universe’ and learning mathematics
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - UCLA astronomers and colleagues have taken the first clear picture of the center of our Milky Way galaxy, including the area surrounding the supermassive black hole, using a new laser virtual star at the W.M. Keck observatory in Hawaii. "Everything is much clearer now," said Andrea Ghez, UCLA professor of physics and astronomy, who headed the research team. "We used a laser to improve the telescope's vision - a spectacular breakthrough that will help us understand the black hole's environment and physics. It's like getting Lasik surgery for the eyes, and will revolutionize what we can do in astronomy." See article. For related story, see “Cassini's galactic aspirations”.
g Abodes - Glaciers, rivers and shifting tectonic plates have shaped mountains over millions of years, but earth scientists have struggled to understand the relative roles of these forces and the rates at which they work. Now, using a new technique, researchers at the University of Michigan, California Institute of Technology and Occidental College have documented how fast glaciers eroded the spectacular mountain topography of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. See article. For related stories, see “Surprise Geysers Erupt in Oklahoma" and “Ancient Glaciers Still Affect The Shape Of North America, Say Scientists”.
g Life - Book alert: The pioneering book “Life in the Universe,“ by Jeffrey Bennett, Seth Shostak, Bruce Jakosky, offers an exciting and rigorous introduction to a wide range of sciences, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, and cosmology. The book captures the reader's imagination by exploring fundamental pan-scientific questions, such as: "How did life begin on Earth?", "What are the most extreme forms of life currently known?", "How likely is life in our solar system and beyond?" and "What are the challenges of trying to colonize another planet?" The book motivates readers to develop an understanding of the nature and process of science through skillful writing and a wealth of features. An award-winning author and contributor team spanning the sciences ensures that coverage is complete, authoritative, and accessible. Interdisciplinary coverage and a wealth of exciting topics engage non-science students, introduce them to a range of sciences, and motivate them to explore the nature of science itself. See article.
g Intelligence - A brain chemical recently found to boost trust appears to work by reducing activity and weakening connections in fear-processing circuitry, a brain imaging study has discovered. Scans of the hormone oxytocin's effect on human brain function reveal that it quells the brain's fear hub, the amygdala, and its brainstem relay stations in response to fearful stimuli. The work suggests new approaches to treating disorders involving social fear, such as social phobia and autism. See article.
g Message - Here’s a neat interactive Web game where you analyze a signal from space, jut as would a SETI astronomer.
g Cosmicus - At the Astrobiology Science Conference last year, scientists and science fiction writers faced off in front of a packed audience to debate the promise and pitfalls of terraforming Mars. In part 4 of this 7-part series, Greg Bear ponders the evolution of humans into Martians. See artice. For related story, see “Birthplace of famous Mars meteorite pinpointed”.
g Learning -
Knowing how a mathematical theory developed improves a pupil's understanding of it. This is the conclusion of Dutch researcher Iris van Gulik, who investigated how the history of mathematics can help pupils to learn this subject. See article.
g Imagining - The questions of what alien life will be like is a more than just an issue for science fiction enthusiasts. For those involved with the fledging science of astrobiology, this is a central issue: After all, if something is life “not as we know it,” how, in fact, would we know it to be life at all? See article.
g Aftermath - If SETI is successful in detecting an extraterrestrial civilization, it will raise the question of whether and how humanity should attempt to communicate with the other civilization. How should that decision be made? What should be the content of such a message? Who should decide? The same questions would apply to proposals that signals be sent in the absence of detection, in the hope that they might be detected by an extraterrestrial civilization. See article. Note: This paper was presented in October 1995.
Read this blogger's books
g Stars - UCLA astronomers and colleagues have taken the first clear picture of the center of our Milky Way galaxy, including the area surrounding the supermassive black hole, using a new laser virtual star at the W.M. Keck observatory in Hawaii. "Everything is much clearer now," said Andrea Ghez, UCLA professor of physics and astronomy, who headed the research team. "We used a laser to improve the telescope's vision - a spectacular breakthrough that will help us understand the black hole's environment and physics. It's like getting Lasik surgery for the eyes, and will revolutionize what we can do in astronomy." See article. For related story, see “Cassini's galactic aspirations”.
g Abodes - Glaciers, rivers and shifting tectonic plates have shaped mountains over millions of years, but earth scientists have struggled to understand the relative roles of these forces and the rates at which they work. Now, using a new technique, researchers at the University of Michigan, California Institute of Technology and Occidental College have documented how fast glaciers eroded the spectacular mountain topography of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. See article. For related stories, see “Surprise Geysers Erupt in Oklahoma" and “Ancient Glaciers Still Affect The Shape Of North America, Say Scientists”.
g Life - Book alert: The pioneering book “Life in the Universe,“ by Jeffrey Bennett, Seth Shostak, Bruce Jakosky, offers an exciting and rigorous introduction to a wide range of sciences, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, and cosmology. The book captures the reader's imagination by exploring fundamental pan-scientific questions, such as: "How did life begin on Earth?", "What are the most extreme forms of life currently known?", "How likely is life in our solar system and beyond?" and "What are the challenges of trying to colonize another planet?" The book motivates readers to develop an understanding of the nature and process of science through skillful writing and a wealth of features. An award-winning author and contributor team spanning the sciences ensures that coverage is complete, authoritative, and accessible. Interdisciplinary coverage and a wealth of exciting topics engage non-science students, introduce them to a range of sciences, and motivate them to explore the nature of science itself. See article.
g Intelligence - A brain chemical recently found to boost trust appears to work by reducing activity and weakening connections in fear-processing circuitry, a brain imaging study has discovered. Scans of the hormone oxytocin's effect on human brain function reveal that it quells the brain's fear hub, the amygdala, and its brainstem relay stations in response to fearful stimuli. The work suggests new approaches to treating disorders involving social fear, such as social phobia and autism. See article.
g Message - Here’s a neat interactive Web game where you analyze a signal from space, jut as would a SETI astronomer.
g Cosmicus - At the Astrobiology Science Conference last year, scientists and science fiction writers faced off in front of a packed audience to debate the promise and pitfalls of terraforming Mars. In part 4 of this 7-part series, Greg Bear ponders the evolution of humans into Martians. See artice. For related story, see “Birthplace of famous Mars meteorite pinpointed”.
g Learning -
Knowing how a mathematical theory developed improves a pupil's understanding of it. This is the conclusion of Dutch researcher Iris van Gulik, who investigated how the history of mathematics can help pupils to learn this subject. See article.
g Imagining - The questions of what alien life will be like is a more than just an issue for science fiction enthusiasts. For those involved with the fledging science of astrobiology, this is a central issue: After all, if something is life “not as we know it,” how, in fact, would we know it to be life at all? See article.
g Aftermath - If SETI is successful in detecting an extraterrestrial civilization, it will raise the question of whether and how humanity should attempt to communicate with the other civilization. How should that decision be made? What should be the content of such a message? Who should decide? The same questions would apply to proposals that signals be sent in the absence of detection, in the hope that they might be detected by an extraterrestrial civilization. See article. Note: This paper was presented in October 1995.
Read this blogger's books
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Pulsar’s tail, cryptids and talking to chimps via computer
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Scientists have uncovered a new feature in one of the closest pulsars to Earth, the Geminga pulsar. Plowing through space, this dense nugget of a dead star leaves in its wake a comet-like trail of high-energy electrons. See article.
g Abodes - A region of Mars that some planetary scientists believe was once a shallow lakebed and likely habitable for life may not have been so wet after all, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. See article.
g Life - The first photograph of a live giant squid, taken recently, is one of many instances of cryptids - animals only rumored to exist - turning out to be real. See article.
g Intelligence - Among the experiments being conducted at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo is long-term research on using computers to talk to the animals. The idea is to get the apes to learn to use computer programs to communicate preferences on food, activity and living space. More broadly the work should add to the scientific literature on how and to what extent apes are able to think and perceive the world. See article.
g Message - Estimating the frequency for communicating with an extrasolar civilization is a multi-dimensional challenge. The answer, according to two scientists at the Hungarian Astronomical Association, is less like an equation, and more like a matrix. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Cosmicus - A private space firm with orbital aspirations has revamped its plans for a crew-carrying spacecraft. See article.
g Learning - Why has FOX News not covered this story? A college professor who drew sharp criticism for comments deriding Christian fundamentalists over "intelligent design" said he was forced out as chairman of the university's religious studies department. See article.
g Imagining - As long as there has been science, science fiction has existed. The secrets of the universe remain a mystery to us, but that doesn’t stop us from making guesses. An author who writes a science fiction novel tries to base it around the technology and knowledge that we have available to us. Those tidbits of knowledge are then exaggerated to great lengths, and then set into the future, on other planets, in other dimensions in time, or under new variants of scientific law. This process is called extrapolation, and becomes the premise of the story. Here’s a Web page that works in reverse, by taking the scientific aspects from classic works of science fiction and explaining how they relate to Astrobiology.
g Aftermath - The issue of stability of conditions prevailing on (at least potentially) habitable planets throughout the Galaxy is the central question of the nascent science of astrobiology. We are lucky enough to live in an epoch of great astronomical discoveries, the most distinguished probably being the discovery of dozens of planets orbiting nearby stars. This particular discovery brings about a profound change in our thinking about the universe, and prompts further questions on thefrequency of Earth-like habitats elsewhere in the galaxy. In a sense, it answers a question posed since antiquity: are there other, potentially inhabited or inhabitable, worlds in the vastness of space? In asking that question, obviously, we take into account our properties as intelligent observers, as well as physical, chemical, and other pre-conditions necessary for our existence. The latter are the topic of the so-called anthropic principle(s), the subject of much debate and controversy in cosmology, fundamental physics, and philosophy of science. See article.
Read books by this blogger
g Stars - Scientists have uncovered a new feature in one of the closest pulsars to Earth, the Geminga pulsar. Plowing through space, this dense nugget of a dead star leaves in its wake a comet-like trail of high-energy electrons. See article.
g Abodes - A region of Mars that some planetary scientists believe was once a shallow lakebed and likely habitable for life may not have been so wet after all, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. See article.
g Life - The first photograph of a live giant squid, taken recently, is one of many instances of cryptids - animals only rumored to exist - turning out to be real. See article.
g Intelligence - Among the experiments being conducted at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo is long-term research on using computers to talk to the animals. The idea is to get the apes to learn to use computer programs to communicate preferences on food, activity and living space. More broadly the work should add to the scientific literature on how and to what extent apes are able to think and perceive the world. See article.
g Message - Estimating the frequency for communicating with an extrasolar civilization is a multi-dimensional challenge. The answer, according to two scientists at the Hungarian Astronomical Association, is less like an equation, and more like a matrix. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Cosmicus - A private space firm with orbital aspirations has revamped its plans for a crew-carrying spacecraft. See article.
g Learning - Why has FOX News not covered this story? A college professor who drew sharp criticism for comments deriding Christian fundamentalists over "intelligent design" said he was forced out as chairman of the university's religious studies department. See article.
g Imagining - As long as there has been science, science fiction has existed. The secrets of the universe remain a mystery to us, but that doesn’t stop us from making guesses. An author who writes a science fiction novel tries to base it around the technology and knowledge that we have available to us. Those tidbits of knowledge are then exaggerated to great lengths, and then set into the future, on other planets, in other dimensions in time, or under new variants of scientific law. This process is called extrapolation, and becomes the premise of the story. Here’s a Web page that works in reverse, by taking the scientific aspects from classic works of science fiction and explaining how they relate to Astrobiology.
g Aftermath - The issue of stability of conditions prevailing on (at least potentially) habitable planets throughout the Galaxy is the central question of the nascent science of astrobiology. We are lucky enough to live in an epoch of great astronomical discoveries, the most distinguished probably being the discovery of dozens of planets orbiting nearby stars. This particular discovery brings about a profound change in our thinking about the universe, and prompts further questions on thefrequency of Earth-like habitats elsewhere in the galaxy. In a sense, it answers a question posed since antiquity: are there other, potentially inhabited or inhabitable, worlds in the vastness of space? In asking that question, obviously, we take into account our properties as intelligent observers, as well as physical, chemical, and other pre-conditions necessary for our existence. The latter are the topic of the so-called anthropic principle(s), the subject of much debate and controversy in cosmology, fundamental physics, and philosophy of science. See article.
Read books by this blogger
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Supernova remnant, ‘Life Everywhere’ and victory for reason
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - This image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory of a supernova remnant shows X-rays produced by high-energy particles and multimillion degree gas. In 1006 AD, what was thought to be a "new star" suddenly appeared in the sky and over the course of a few days became brighter than the planet Venus. The supernova of 1006 may have been the brightest supernova on record. See article.
g Abodes - Most of the extrasolar planets discovered to date are gas giants like Jupiter, but their orbits are either much closer to their parent stars or are highly eccentric. Planet hunters are on the verge of confirming the discovery of Jupiter-size planets with Jupiter-like orbits. Solar systems that contain these "good" Jupiters may harbor habitable Earth-like planets as well. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Life - Book alert: Are we alone? As the search for extraterrestrial intelligence comes more and more into the mainstream, scientists like David Darling step up to explain what we know and what's possible. His book “Life Everywhere” explores the history and current state of the field called, perhaps unfortunately, astrobiology. Devoted neither to organisms skimming the sun's surface nor to possible signs of intelligence among celebrities - though not explicitly rejecting these phenomena - astrobiology is concerned with the basic questions of life: What is a living organism? Is it common, or likely, elsewhere in the universe? Is it worth trying to communicate across light years? Darling, an astronomer and science journalist, has a knack for explaining complexities and fine details that carries his prose forward where other authors have foundered; the reader is swept up in the enthusiasm of the researchers Darling describes. Writing of the astronomical search for signs of life far off in the galaxy, he captures the thrill of this work. See article.
g Intelligence - As global populations swell, farmers are cultivating more and more land in a desperate bid to keep pace with the ever-intensifying needs of humans. See article.
g Message - Here’s an intriguing paper that argues the famous Fermi Paradox is a logical fallacy. See article. Note: This article is from 1984.
g Cosmicus - At the Astrobiology Science Conference last year, scientists and science fiction writers faced off in front of a packed audience to debate the promise and pitfalls of terraforming Mars. In part 3 of this 7-part series, David Grinspoon says we have an ethical imperative to bring a dead planet to life. See article. And here’s a bonus: A NASA animation of what Mars would look like with water: Animation: Large Areas of Mars Covered by Water (Requires QuickTime or other MPEG player).
g Learning - A victory for reason occurred Tuesday: A federal judge dealt a major setback to backers of the idea that some forms of life are so complex that they must be the product of an intelligent designer. Judge John Jones ruled that it is unconstitutional to teach the concept in public school science classes because it is "a religious view." See article.
g Imagining - What’s the solution to the Drake Equation? Here’s a Web page that includes a calculator, where you can try out your own educated guesses about the answers to each of the questions considered here, and see where your guesses take you.
g Aftermath - A wide variety of steps should be taken to help the social sciences increase their visibility, status and contribution within the SETI field. The impact of social scientists will be profound if they contribute fresh ideas about the nature of ETI and how to detect it, bold insights into the variety of human reactions if the search succeeds, and far- sighted scenarios of humanity’s eventual relations with extraterrestrial intelligence. The quality of their thought, the ingenuity of their research designs and the depth of their findings will, in the long run, be particularly significant factors in their contribution to the SETI field. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - This image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory of a supernova remnant shows X-rays produced by high-energy particles and multimillion degree gas. In 1006 AD, what was thought to be a "new star" suddenly appeared in the sky and over the course of a few days became brighter than the planet Venus. The supernova of 1006 may have been the brightest supernova on record. See article.
g Abodes - Most of the extrasolar planets discovered to date are gas giants like Jupiter, but their orbits are either much closer to their parent stars or are highly eccentric. Planet hunters are on the verge of confirming the discovery of Jupiter-size planets with Jupiter-like orbits. Solar systems that contain these "good" Jupiters may harbor habitable Earth-like planets as well. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.
g Life - Book alert: Are we alone? As the search for extraterrestrial intelligence comes more and more into the mainstream, scientists like David Darling step up to explain what we know and what's possible. His book “Life Everywhere” explores the history and current state of the field called, perhaps unfortunately, astrobiology. Devoted neither to organisms skimming the sun's surface nor to possible signs of intelligence among celebrities - though not explicitly rejecting these phenomena - astrobiology is concerned with the basic questions of life: What is a living organism? Is it common, or likely, elsewhere in the universe? Is it worth trying to communicate across light years? Darling, an astronomer and science journalist, has a knack for explaining complexities and fine details that carries his prose forward where other authors have foundered; the reader is swept up in the enthusiasm of the researchers Darling describes. Writing of the astronomical search for signs of life far off in the galaxy, he captures the thrill of this work. See article.
g Intelligence - As global populations swell, farmers are cultivating more and more land in a desperate bid to keep pace with the ever-intensifying needs of humans. See article.
g Message - Here’s an intriguing paper that argues the famous Fermi Paradox is a logical fallacy. See article. Note: This article is from 1984.
g Cosmicus - At the Astrobiology Science Conference last year, scientists and science fiction writers faced off in front of a packed audience to debate the promise and pitfalls of terraforming Mars. In part 3 of this 7-part series, David Grinspoon says we have an ethical imperative to bring a dead planet to life. See article. And here’s a bonus: A NASA animation of what Mars would look like with water: Animation: Large Areas of Mars Covered by Water (Requires QuickTime or other MPEG player).
g Learning - A victory for reason occurred Tuesday: A federal judge dealt a major setback to backers of the idea that some forms of life are so complex that they must be the product of an intelligent designer. Judge John Jones ruled that it is unconstitutional to teach the concept in public school science classes because it is "a religious view." See article.
g Imagining - What’s the solution to the Drake Equation? Here’s a Web page that includes a calculator, where you can try out your own educated guesses about the answers to each of the questions considered here, and see where your guesses take you.
g Aftermath - A wide variety of steps should be taken to help the social sciences increase their visibility, status and contribution within the SETI field. The impact of social scientists will be profound if they contribute fresh ideas about the nature of ETI and how to detect it, bold insights into the variety of human reactions if the search succeeds, and far- sighted scenarios of humanity’s eventual relations with extraterrestrial intelligence. The quality of their thought, the ingenuity of their research designs and the depth of their findings will, in the long run, be particularly significant factors in their contribution to the SETI field. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Black hole swallowing a neutron star, magnetotactic microorganisms, New Horizons spacecraft
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Scientists using NASA's Swift satellite have found evidence of a black hole swallowing a neutron star. This rare event created a gamma-ray burst that lasted only for a few milliseconds. However, observations of the lingering afterglow provided evidence of what could have been the demise of a neutron star orbiting a black hole. See article.
g Abodes - Earthlings can rest easy. The likelihood of a doomsday scenario in which Earth is destroyed in a freak astrophysical catastrophe is remote - about once in a billion years, according to a new calculation. See article.
g Life - "Magnetotactic" microorganisms use a miniature, cellular compass made of a chain of single nanomagnets, called magnetosomes. The entire bacterium is oriented like a compass needle inside the magnetic field. Until now, it was not clear how the cells organize magnetosomes into a stable chain, against their physical tendency to collapse by magnetic attraction. See article.
g Intelligence - When you forget a face or can't find your car keys, it's not because your brain is out of storage space. You just aren't filtering out other thoughts well enough, a new study finds. See article. For related story, see “Discovery Disproves Simple Concept Of Memory As 'Storage Space'”.
g Message - Book alert: Exobiology (or cosmic biology), the scientific search for life beyond Earth, "resembles a brainstorming session, with many discordant voices," according to “Here Be Dragons : The Scientific Quest for Extraterrestrial Life,” by David Koerner, Simon LeVay, a book mirroring that ferment. Koerner, a planetary scientist, and LeVay, a neuroanatomist, favor the view that technologically advanced civilizations are common in our galaxy and beyond, though many of their colleagues disagree. Their heady tour skips from "extraterrestrial environments" right here on Earth (Antarctica, Death Valley, etc.) where NASA scientists are investigating extreme environments believed to resemble conditions on other planets or moons, through the SETI Institute in California, whose radio telescopes scan the skies for transmitting civilizations, to the Bios Group, a Santa Fe start-up company that uses complexity theory to explore the intrinsic rules underlying the growth of evolving organisms or human institutions. Koerner has used the Hubble Space Telescope to study the birth of planets, and the book presents the latest evidence that planetary systems do indeed swirl around many stars besides our sun. Their open-mindedness within the establishment field of exobiology, an area that is now the "recipient of huge government resources," is manifest as they contemplate multiverse models of coexisting universes or attend a NASA workshop where astronomers, engineers and futurists discuss antimatter propulsion and laser-powered craft. Koerner and LeVay have a gift for helping the uninitiated over technical terrain, aided by clear writing, intuitive examples, color photos and drawings. See article.
g Cosmicus - NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is nearing a liftoff into the unknown. This first mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt—a distant district of ancient, icy, rocky objects on the solar system’s outer banks—is assured to transmit back to Earth numbers of revelations. See article. For related story, see “New Discoveries Await Out on the Horizon”.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site, courtesy of NASA: “Smart Skies.” For grades 5-9, in these activities students use hands-on math to avoid air traffic conflicts. See article.
g Imagining - Here’s a cool Web site: The Exorarium. At the Exorarium, visitors get a chance to mix and match the same ingredients that brought about human life, shaping their own unique intelligent life forms. For example, you might start with a hot or cool star, a heavy or light planet, one with lots of water or a desert world, and so on – until a unique ecosystem takes shape before your eyes … a family tree leading to the ultimate outcome, a species of intelligent life. See article.
g Aftermath - If, as “The X-Files'” Fox Mulder might say, "The truth is out there," then the researchers running the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program are likely to be the first ones to find it. On the other hand, there are numerous people who believe they've already been in contact with aliens. National Geographic's video ”Phantom Quest: The Search for Extraterrestrials” studies the claims of both groups, ultimately seeking to reveal precisely what an encounter with beings from another planet could mean for humanity. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - Scientists using NASA's Swift satellite have found evidence of a black hole swallowing a neutron star. This rare event created a gamma-ray burst that lasted only for a few milliseconds. However, observations of the lingering afterglow provided evidence of what could have been the demise of a neutron star orbiting a black hole. See article.
g Abodes - Earthlings can rest easy. The likelihood of a doomsday scenario in which Earth is destroyed in a freak astrophysical catastrophe is remote - about once in a billion years, according to a new calculation. See article.
g Life - "Magnetotactic" microorganisms use a miniature, cellular compass made of a chain of single nanomagnets, called magnetosomes. The entire bacterium is oriented like a compass needle inside the magnetic field. Until now, it was not clear how the cells organize magnetosomes into a stable chain, against their physical tendency to collapse by magnetic attraction. See article.
g Intelligence - When you forget a face or can't find your car keys, it's not because your brain is out of storage space. You just aren't filtering out other thoughts well enough, a new study finds. See article. For related story, see “Discovery Disproves Simple Concept Of Memory As 'Storage Space'”.
g Message - Book alert: Exobiology (or cosmic biology), the scientific search for life beyond Earth, "resembles a brainstorming session, with many discordant voices," according to “Here Be Dragons : The Scientific Quest for Extraterrestrial Life,” by David Koerner, Simon LeVay, a book mirroring that ferment. Koerner, a planetary scientist, and LeVay, a neuroanatomist, favor the view that technologically advanced civilizations are common in our galaxy and beyond, though many of their colleagues disagree. Their heady tour skips from "extraterrestrial environments" right here on Earth (Antarctica, Death Valley, etc.) where NASA scientists are investigating extreme environments believed to resemble conditions on other planets or moons, through the SETI Institute in California, whose radio telescopes scan the skies for transmitting civilizations, to the Bios Group, a Santa Fe start-up company that uses complexity theory to explore the intrinsic rules underlying the growth of evolving organisms or human institutions. Koerner has used the Hubble Space Telescope to study the birth of planets, and the book presents the latest evidence that planetary systems do indeed swirl around many stars besides our sun. Their open-mindedness within the establishment field of exobiology, an area that is now the "recipient of huge government resources," is manifest as they contemplate multiverse models of coexisting universes or attend a NASA workshop where astronomers, engineers and futurists discuss antimatter propulsion and laser-powered craft. Koerner and LeVay have a gift for helping the uninitiated over technical terrain, aided by clear writing, intuitive examples, color photos and drawings. See article.
g Cosmicus - NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is nearing a liftoff into the unknown. This first mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt—a distant district of ancient, icy, rocky objects on the solar system’s outer banks—is assured to transmit back to Earth numbers of revelations. See article. For related story, see “New Discoveries Await Out on the Horizon”.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site, courtesy of NASA: “Smart Skies.” For grades 5-9, in these activities students use hands-on math to avoid air traffic conflicts. See article.
g Imagining - Here’s a cool Web site: The Exorarium. At the Exorarium, visitors get a chance to mix and match the same ingredients that brought about human life, shaping their own unique intelligent life forms. For example, you might start with a hot or cool star, a heavy or light planet, one with lots of water or a desert world, and so on – until a unique ecosystem takes shape before your eyes … a family tree leading to the ultimate outcome, a species of intelligent life. See article.
g Aftermath - If, as “The X-Files'” Fox Mulder might say, "The truth is out there," then the researchers running the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program are likely to be the first ones to find it. On the other hand, there are numerous people who believe they've already been in contact with aliens. National Geographic's video ”Phantom Quest: The Search for Extraterrestrials” studies the claims of both groups, ultimately seeking to reveal precisely what an encounter with beings from another planet could mean for humanity. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Monday, December 19, 2005
Cosmic gamma ray bursts, shifting North Pole, Personal Satellite Assistant
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Cosmic gamma ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe, have the extreme brilliance of a billion billion Suns and occur several times a day. But they are not all created equal. Astronomers have known that two types exist — long ones that last for tens or hundreds of seconds, and short bursts, which last a few milliseconds to a second. The origin of the short bursts has been shrouded in mystery, until now. See article.
g Abodes - After some 400 years of relative stability, Earth's North Magnetic Pole has moved nearly 1,100 kilometers out into the Arctic Ocean during the last century and at its present rate could move from northern Canada to Siberia within the next half-century. See article.
g Life - Bacteria feel pressures to evolve antibiotic resistance and other new abilities in response to a changing environment, and they react by “stealing” genetic information from other better-adapted types of bacteria, according to research published in Nature Genetics. See article.
g Intelligence - In an important new study from the Quarterly Review of Biology, biologists from Binghamton University explore the evolution of two distinct types of laughter - laughter which is stimulus-driven and laughter which is self-generated and strategic. See article.
g Message - Here’s a classic I stumbled across online: Carl Sagan’s 1978 article “The Quest for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.” Few other pieces so eloquently capture the essential, human purpose behind astrobiology and SETI. See article.
g Cosmicus - At the Astrobiology Science Conference last year, scientists and science fiction writers faced off in front of a packed audience to debate the promise and pitfalls of terraforming Mars. In part 2 of this 7-part series, John Rummel predicts that in our search for life on Mars, we probably won't find cows. See article. Here’s a bonus for you: A gallery of images depicting what Mars would like as a waterworld.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site, courtesy of NASA: “Personal Satellite Assistant”. For grades 5-8, it helps students explore math and physics with a robotic helper.
g Imagining - Book alert: In our current cultural fascination with the idea of alien beings from other worlds, most of it hokey at best and just plain wrong at worst, there is a definite need for some popular-level literature which helps to sort the rational wheat from the pseudoscience and Hollywood chaff. SETI scientist Seth Shostak wrote such a book, “Sharing the Universe,” in 1998. Shostak gives a comprehensive and most readable survey of what we do (and especially do not) know about life beyond the planet Earth, and how we are going about searching for our fellow inhabitants of the universe. See article.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them here.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - Cosmic gamma ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe, have the extreme brilliance of a billion billion Suns and occur several times a day. But they are not all created equal. Astronomers have known that two types exist — long ones that last for tens or hundreds of seconds, and short bursts, which last a few milliseconds to a second. The origin of the short bursts has been shrouded in mystery, until now. See article.
g Abodes - After some 400 years of relative stability, Earth's North Magnetic Pole has moved nearly 1,100 kilometers out into the Arctic Ocean during the last century and at its present rate could move from northern Canada to Siberia within the next half-century. See article.
g Life - Bacteria feel pressures to evolve antibiotic resistance and other new abilities in response to a changing environment, and they react by “stealing” genetic information from other better-adapted types of bacteria, according to research published in Nature Genetics. See article.
g Intelligence - In an important new study from the Quarterly Review of Biology, biologists from Binghamton University explore the evolution of two distinct types of laughter - laughter which is stimulus-driven and laughter which is self-generated and strategic. See article.
g Message - Here’s a classic I stumbled across online: Carl Sagan’s 1978 article “The Quest for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.” Few other pieces so eloquently capture the essential, human purpose behind astrobiology and SETI. See article.
g Cosmicus - At the Astrobiology Science Conference last year, scientists and science fiction writers faced off in front of a packed audience to debate the promise and pitfalls of terraforming Mars. In part 2 of this 7-part series, John Rummel predicts that in our search for life on Mars, we probably won't find cows. See article. Here’s a bonus for you: A gallery of images depicting what Mars would like as a waterworld.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site, courtesy of NASA: “Personal Satellite Assistant”. For grades 5-8, it helps students explore math and physics with a robotic helper.
g Imagining - Book alert: In our current cultural fascination with the idea of alien beings from other worlds, most of it hokey at best and just plain wrong at worst, there is a definite need for some popular-level literature which helps to sort the rational wheat from the pseudoscience and Hollywood chaff. SETI scientist Seth Shostak wrote such a book, “Sharing the Universe,” in 1998. Shostak gives a comprehensive and most readable survey of what we do (and especially do not) know about life beyond the planet Earth, and how we are going about searching for our fellow inhabitants of the universe. See article.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them here.
Read this blogger’s books
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Titan’s methane, artificial vs. natural signals and life on a neutron star’s surface
Welcome! “Alien Life” tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Today’s news:
g Stars - Astronomers using ESA's XMM-Newton observatory have found very hot gaseous halos around a multitude of spiral galaxies similar to our Milky Way galaxy. These 'ghost-like' veils have been suspected for decades but remained elusive until now. See article.
g Abodes - The methane giving an orange hue to Saturn's giant moon Titan likely comes from geologic processes in its interior according to measurements from the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer a Goddard Space Flight Center instrument aboard the European Space Agency's Huygens Probe. The GCMS, which descended with five other instruments on the probe through the moon's thick atmosphere on Jan. 14 also found evidence of liquid methane in the surface material. See article.
g Life - An international team, led by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, has announced the publication of the genome sequence of the dog. In the Dec. 8 issue of the journal Nature, the researchers present a detailed analysis of the dog genome and describe how the data offer the potential for improving the health of man and man's best friend. See article.
g Intelligence - The brains of babies born very prematurely do not develop as well as those who are carried to full-term, according to new research presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C. See article.
g Message - How can SETI scientists be sure they’ve picked up intelligence and not just the cosmic gurgle of a completely natural object? How can they know they’re not merely harkening to the ticking beat of a pulsar, the whoosh of a quasar or perhaps the lasing bray of a molecular gas cloud? See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Cosmicus - NASA announced Friday the agency's Kennedy Space Center will be the takeoff site for an attempt to set the record for the longest flight of an aircraft or balloon. Steve Fossett will attempt to fly solo around the world, non-stop without refueling, in the aircraft designed by Burt Rutan. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site, courtesy of NASA: “What's the Difference?” Designed for all grades, the interactive software allows side-by-side comparisons of planets and scientific principles. See article.
g Imagining - We normally think of life developing on a planet. But could it evolve on a star? Robert L. Forward took this idea to an extreme in “Dragon's Egg,” a novel about life on the surface of a neutron star, composed of very dense "degenerate" matter. Surface gravity is in the millions, and the inhabitants live and think proportionally faster. See article.
g Aftermath - Philosophers and former politicians will soon join an elite group of scientists whose job it is to work out how to respond to signals from extra-terrestrial intelligence. See article. For related story, see “The call that is important to us all”.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - Astronomers using ESA's XMM-Newton observatory have found very hot gaseous halos around a multitude of spiral galaxies similar to our Milky Way galaxy. These 'ghost-like' veils have been suspected for decades but remained elusive until now. See article.
g Abodes - The methane giving an orange hue to Saturn's giant moon Titan likely comes from geologic processes in its interior according to measurements from the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer a Goddard Space Flight Center instrument aboard the European Space Agency's Huygens Probe. The GCMS, which descended with five other instruments on the probe through the moon's thick atmosphere on Jan. 14 also found evidence of liquid methane in the surface material. See article.
g Life - An international team, led by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, has announced the publication of the genome sequence of the dog. In the Dec. 8 issue of the journal Nature, the researchers present a detailed analysis of the dog genome and describe how the data offer the potential for improving the health of man and man's best friend. See article.
g Intelligence - The brains of babies born very prematurely do not develop as well as those who are carried to full-term, according to new research presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C. See article.
g Message - How can SETI scientists be sure they’ve picked up intelligence and not just the cosmic gurgle of a completely natural object? How can they know they’re not merely harkening to the ticking beat of a pulsar, the whoosh of a quasar or perhaps the lasing bray of a molecular gas cloud? See article. Note: This article is from 2003.
g Cosmicus - NASA announced Friday the agency's Kennedy Space Center will be the takeoff site for an attempt to set the record for the longest flight of an aircraft or balloon. Steve Fossett will attempt to fly solo around the world, non-stop without refueling, in the aircraft designed by Burt Rutan. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site, courtesy of NASA: “What's the Difference?” Designed for all grades, the interactive software allows side-by-side comparisons of planets and scientific principles. See article.
g Imagining - We normally think of life developing on a planet. But could it evolve on a star? Robert L. Forward took this idea to an extreme in “Dragon's Egg,” a novel about life on the surface of a neutron star, composed of very dense "degenerate" matter. Surface gravity is in the millions, and the inhabitants live and think proportionally faster. See article.
g Aftermath - Philosophers and former politicians will soon join an elite group of scientists whose job it is to work out how to respond to signals from extra-terrestrial intelligence. See article. For related story, see “The call that is important to us all”.
Read this blogger’s books
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Debris disk, hopping microbots, mothballing shuttle Atlantis
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Astronomers have found a debris disk around a sun-like star that may be forming or has formed its terrestrial planets. The disk - a probable analog to our asteroid belt - may have begun a solar-system-scale demolition derby, where the rocky remains of failed planets collide chaotically. See article.
g Abodes - NASA researchers, using data from the agency's AURA satellite, determined the seasonal ozone hole that developed over Antarctica this year is smaller than in previous years. See article. For related story, see “Mountainous Plateau Creates Ozone 'Halo' Around Tibet”.
g Life - For the past several years, NASA has been encouraging scientists and engineers to think outside the box, to come up with ideas just this side of science fiction. One of the projects that received funding earlier this year was a collaboration between Penelope Boston and Steven Dubowsky to develop "hopping microbots" capable of exploring hazardous terrain, including underground caves. See article.
g Intelligence - With help from a common aquarium pet and a recently released online database of human genetic variation, a collaborative team of Penn State researchers has found what could be the most important skin color gene identified to date. The team found that a change in just one amino acid in one gene plays a major role in determining why people of European descent have lighter skin than people of African descent. See article.
g Message - What’s Olum's Paradox? See article.
g Cosmicus - Several lawmakers have warned President Bush in a letter that if NASA doesn't get the budget it seeks for 2007 to 2010, it would have to retire shuttle Atlantis immediately, cutting jobs and gutting the vision for space exploration. See article.
g Learning - The American Geophysical Union met in San Francisco last week, as it does each year. More than 11,000 geologists, students and educators gathered together to present papers and posters, attend lectures, learn about new discoveries, and share the science of Earth and other planets. AGU has become the site for significant sessions on Earth and space science education. See article.
g Imagining - Scientists at the SETI Institute have long considered what life might be like on other worlds. You can join in this quest through a game-like science lesson, "Inventing Life Forms." It’s suitable for inventors of all ages. Using one of a pair of dice, you work through the selection of characteristics for your life form. Then, you apply this data and your imagination to invent a life form and develop a world where your creature could live. Download the instructions for "Inventing Life Forms" from the SETI Institute website. It’s the PDF lesson featured with our teaching guide, "How Might Life Evolve on Other Worlds?"
g Aftermath - Donald E. Tarter, a consultant in space policy and technology assessment, makes a persuasive case for developing the protocols and technology to reply to an extraterrestrial signal before news of the discovery is made public, in his article, “Advocating an Immediate Response.” Delay could be costly as technologically advanced fringe groups or ambitious nations could attempt to score a propaganda victory by being the first to reply, creating a mixed and perhaps embarrassing first message. This could be avoided by settling on a quick and simple message to let the extraterrestrial source know that we had received their message. See article. Note: This report is from 1996.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - Astronomers have found a debris disk around a sun-like star that may be forming or has formed its terrestrial planets. The disk - a probable analog to our asteroid belt - may have begun a solar-system-scale demolition derby, where the rocky remains of failed planets collide chaotically. See article.
g Abodes - NASA researchers, using data from the agency's AURA satellite, determined the seasonal ozone hole that developed over Antarctica this year is smaller than in previous years. See article. For related story, see “Mountainous Plateau Creates Ozone 'Halo' Around Tibet”.
g Life - For the past several years, NASA has been encouraging scientists and engineers to think outside the box, to come up with ideas just this side of science fiction. One of the projects that received funding earlier this year was a collaboration between Penelope Boston and Steven Dubowsky to develop "hopping microbots" capable of exploring hazardous terrain, including underground caves. See article.
g Intelligence - With help from a common aquarium pet and a recently released online database of human genetic variation, a collaborative team of Penn State researchers has found what could be the most important skin color gene identified to date. The team found that a change in just one amino acid in one gene plays a major role in determining why people of European descent have lighter skin than people of African descent. See article.
g Message - What’s Olum's Paradox? See article.
g Cosmicus - Several lawmakers have warned President Bush in a letter that if NASA doesn't get the budget it seeks for 2007 to 2010, it would have to retire shuttle Atlantis immediately, cutting jobs and gutting the vision for space exploration. See article.
g Learning - The American Geophysical Union met in San Francisco last week, as it does each year. More than 11,000 geologists, students and educators gathered together to present papers and posters, attend lectures, learn about new discoveries, and share the science of Earth and other planets. AGU has become the site for significant sessions on Earth and space science education. See article.
g Imagining - Scientists at the SETI Institute have long considered what life might be like on other worlds. You can join in this quest through a game-like science lesson, "Inventing Life Forms." It’s suitable for inventors of all ages. Using one of a pair of dice, you work through the selection of characteristics for your life form. Then, you apply this data and your imagination to invent a life form and develop a world where your creature could live. Download the instructions for "Inventing Life Forms" from the SETI Institute website. It’s the PDF lesson featured with our teaching guide, "How Might Life Evolve on Other Worlds?"
g Aftermath - Donald E. Tarter, a consultant in space policy and technology assessment, makes a persuasive case for developing the protocols and technology to reply to an extraterrestrial signal before news of the discovery is made public, in his article, “Advocating an Immediate Response.” Delay could be costly as technologically advanced fringe groups or ambitious nations could attempt to score a propaganda victory by being the first to reply, creating a mixed and perhaps embarrassing first message. This could be avoided by settling on a quick and simple message to let the extraterrestrial source know that we had received their message. See article. Note: This report is from 1996.
Read this blogger’s books
Friday, December 16, 2005
Moon storm, less expensive private space exploration and ‘Wings over Mars’
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Physicists at nearly a dozen research institutions, including New York University, have discovered evidence for very high energy gamma rays emitting from the Milky Way, marking the highest energies ever detected from the galactic equator. Their findings, published in today’s issue of the Physical Review of Letters, were obtained using the Milagro Gamma Ray Observatory, a new detector located near Los Alamos, N.M., that allows monitoring of the northern sky on a 24-hour, 7-day-per-week basis. See article.
g Abodes - The next time you see the moon, trace your finger along the terminator, the dividing line between lunar night and day. That's where a storm is raging. It's a long and skinny dust storm, stretching all the way from the north pole to the south pole, swirling across the surface, following the terminator as sunrise ceaselessly sweeps around the moon. See article.
g Life - What would you call an alien if you encountered it on the street tomorrow? What if that alien didn't come from another world but rather was created in a laboratory right here on Earth and functioned differently from other Earth life? See article.
g Intelligence - Two lines of an alphabet have been found inscribed in a stone in Israel, offering what some scholars say is the most solid evidence yet that the ancient Israelites were literate as early as the 10th century B.C. See article.
g Message - Book alert: In “Faint Echoes, Distant Stars: The Science and Politics of Finding Life Beyond Earth,” Ben Bova proffers a good general history of astrobiology, or the history and structure of life in the cosmos - one of the newest fields of scientific research. He covers astronomy briefly and gives more detail about the political and technological history of NASA, showing the effects of politics and accidents on the field. He also notes what we have discovered about the history of life on this planet, what we are looking for beyond Earth and the solar system, and how we are presently going about it. With so much to cover, this is hardly an in-depth account, but it is a very good introduction for the general reader and even the specialist who wants a look at the larger picture. Bova seasons his account with entertaining and illustrative historical anecdotes, so that, as a bonus, we get an idea of what NASA has been doing since the end of the Apollo program and something about what it hopes to do in the future that many readers will live to see. See article.
g Cosmicus - SpaceDev says the results of its lunar exploration study indicate that a more comprehensive series of missions could be completed in a fraction of the time for one-tenth of the cost vs. NASA's recently announced plans. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site, courtesy of NASA: “Wings over Mars”. For grades 5-8, students get to design robotic airplanes to explore and collect data on Mars.
g Imagining - Think of your favorite alien on TV or in the movies. Do you have the image in mind? I'd bet that your alien is pretty darn smart. However, despite what we see in “Star Wars” and “Star Trek,” the author of “The Science of Aliens” doesn't expect intelligence to be an inevitable result of evolution on other worlds. See article.
g Aftermath - If, as “The X-Files'” Fox Mulder might say, "The truth is out there," then the researchers running the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program are likely to be the first ones to find it. On the other hand, there are numerous people who believe they've already been in contact with aliens. National Geographic's video ”Phantom Quest: The Search for Extraterrestrials” studies the claims of both groups, ultimately seeking to reveal precisely what an encounter with beings from another planet could mean for humanity. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - Physicists at nearly a dozen research institutions, including New York University, have discovered evidence for very high energy gamma rays emitting from the Milky Way, marking the highest energies ever detected from the galactic equator. Their findings, published in today’s issue of the Physical Review of Letters, were obtained using the Milagro Gamma Ray Observatory, a new detector located near Los Alamos, N.M., that allows monitoring of the northern sky on a 24-hour, 7-day-per-week basis. See article.
g Abodes - The next time you see the moon, trace your finger along the terminator, the dividing line between lunar night and day. That's where a storm is raging. It's a long and skinny dust storm, stretching all the way from the north pole to the south pole, swirling across the surface, following the terminator as sunrise ceaselessly sweeps around the moon. See article.
g Life - What would you call an alien if you encountered it on the street tomorrow? What if that alien didn't come from another world but rather was created in a laboratory right here on Earth and functioned differently from other Earth life? See article.
g Intelligence - Two lines of an alphabet have been found inscribed in a stone in Israel, offering what some scholars say is the most solid evidence yet that the ancient Israelites were literate as early as the 10th century B.C. See article.
g Message - Book alert: In “Faint Echoes, Distant Stars: The Science and Politics of Finding Life Beyond Earth,” Ben Bova proffers a good general history of astrobiology, or the history and structure of life in the cosmos - one of the newest fields of scientific research. He covers astronomy briefly and gives more detail about the political and technological history of NASA, showing the effects of politics and accidents on the field. He also notes what we have discovered about the history of life on this planet, what we are looking for beyond Earth and the solar system, and how we are presently going about it. With so much to cover, this is hardly an in-depth account, but it is a very good introduction for the general reader and even the specialist who wants a look at the larger picture. Bova seasons his account with entertaining and illustrative historical anecdotes, so that, as a bonus, we get an idea of what NASA has been doing since the end of the Apollo program and something about what it hopes to do in the future that many readers will live to see. See article.
g Cosmicus - SpaceDev says the results of its lunar exploration study indicate that a more comprehensive series of missions could be completed in a fraction of the time for one-tenth of the cost vs. NASA's recently announced plans. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site, courtesy of NASA: “Wings over Mars”. For grades 5-8, students get to design robotic airplanes to explore and collect data on Mars.
g Imagining - Think of your favorite alien on TV or in the movies. Do you have the image in mind? I'd bet that your alien is pretty darn smart. However, despite what we see in “Star Wars” and “Star Trek,” the author of “The Science of Aliens” doesn't expect intelligence to be an inevitable result of evolution on other worlds. See article.
g Aftermath - If, as “The X-Files'” Fox Mulder might say, "The truth is out there," then the researchers running the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program are likely to be the first ones to find it. On the other hand, there are numerous people who believe they've already been in contact with aliens. National Geographic's video ”Phantom Quest: The Search for Extraterrestrials” studies the claims of both groups, ultimately seeking to reveal precisely what an encounter with beings from another planet could mean for humanity. See article.
Read this blogger’s books
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Dog Star’s companion, future flight design and terraforming Mars
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - For astronomers, it's always been a source of frustration that the nearest white-dwarf star is buried in the glow of the brightest star in the nighttime sky. This burned-out stellar remnant is a faint companion of the brilliant blue-white Dog Star, Sirius, located in the winter constellation Canis Major. See article.
g Abodes - Life on Earth may owe its existence to tiny microorganisms living in the oceans, but the effect of human-induced change on the vital services these microbes perform for the planet remains largely unstudied, says a report released last week by the American Academy of Microbiology, entitled “Marine Microbial Diversity: The Key to Earth's Habitability.” See article.
g Life - For the fourth year in a row, a team of scientists has traveled up into the Andes mountains in Bolivia to study the life forms - mostly microbes - that inhabit some of the highest lakes in the world. These high lakes offer researchers an opportunity to study life in an extreme environment on Earth that is in some ways like conditions on Mars. Astrobiology Magazine is posting the next in a series of log entries from the expedition leader, Nathalie Cabrol, on the eve of the team's ascent. See article. For related story, see “UC Santa Barbara Researcher Tapped By Europeans For Design Of Instrument To Test Soil On Mars”.
g Intelligence - An experience as simple as watching graphically violent or emotional scenes in a movie can induce enough stress to interfere with problem-solving abilities, new research at Ohio State University Medical Center suggests. A related study suggests a beta-blocker medication could promote the ability to think flexibly under stressful conditions, researchers say. See article.
g Message - Would anyone deliberately beam high-powered signals into space? Can we assume that extraterrestrial societies would broadcast in ways that would mark their location as plainly as a flag on a golf green? See article.
g Cosmicus - At the Astrobiology Science Conference on March 30, 2004, scientists and science fiction writers faced off in front of a packed audience to debate the promise and pitfalls of terraforming Mars. In part 1 of this 7-part series, Christopher McKay advocates making Mars habitable for Martians. See article. For related stories, see “New site features 'live' images from Mars” and “MIT Researchers Visit Mars On Earth”.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site courtesy of NASA: “Future Flight Design”. Written for grades 3-7, kids can design air transportation and aircraft systems.
g Imagining - Book alert: What would life on other planets look like? Forget the little green men, alien life is likely to be completely unrecognizable - we haven’t even discovered all the life on our own planet. The visionary “Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life,” by Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart, offers some of the most radical but scientifically accurate thinking on the possibility of life on other planets ever conceived. Using broad principles of Earthly biology and expanding on them laterally, Cohen and Stewart examine what could be out there. Redefining our whole concept of what ‘life’ is, they ask whether aliens could live on the surface of a star, in the vacuum of space or beneath the ice of a frozen moon. And whether life could exist without carbon or DNA – or even without matter at all. They also look at ‘celebrity aliens’ from books and films – most of which are biologically impossible. Jack Cohen is an ‘alien consultant’ to many writers, advising what an alien could and couldn’t look like. (E.T. go home – you do not pass the test). But this book is as much about the latest discoveries in Earthly biology as well as life on other planets. It’s a serious yet entertaining science book. See article.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them here.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - For astronomers, it's always been a source of frustration that the nearest white-dwarf star is buried in the glow of the brightest star in the nighttime sky. This burned-out stellar remnant is a faint companion of the brilliant blue-white Dog Star, Sirius, located in the winter constellation Canis Major. See article.
g Abodes - Life on Earth may owe its existence to tiny microorganisms living in the oceans, but the effect of human-induced change on the vital services these microbes perform for the planet remains largely unstudied, says a report released last week by the American Academy of Microbiology, entitled “Marine Microbial Diversity: The Key to Earth's Habitability.” See article.
g Life - For the fourth year in a row, a team of scientists has traveled up into the Andes mountains in Bolivia to study the life forms - mostly microbes - that inhabit some of the highest lakes in the world. These high lakes offer researchers an opportunity to study life in an extreme environment on Earth that is in some ways like conditions on Mars. Astrobiology Magazine is posting the next in a series of log entries from the expedition leader, Nathalie Cabrol, on the eve of the team's ascent. See article. For related story, see “UC Santa Barbara Researcher Tapped By Europeans For Design Of Instrument To Test Soil On Mars”.
g Intelligence - An experience as simple as watching graphically violent or emotional scenes in a movie can induce enough stress to interfere with problem-solving abilities, new research at Ohio State University Medical Center suggests. A related study suggests a beta-blocker medication could promote the ability to think flexibly under stressful conditions, researchers say. See article.
g Message - Would anyone deliberately beam high-powered signals into space? Can we assume that extraterrestrial societies would broadcast in ways that would mark their location as plainly as a flag on a golf green? See article.
g Cosmicus - At the Astrobiology Science Conference on March 30, 2004, scientists and science fiction writers faced off in front of a packed audience to debate the promise and pitfalls of terraforming Mars. In part 1 of this 7-part series, Christopher McKay advocates making Mars habitable for Martians. See article. For related stories, see “New site features 'live' images from Mars” and “MIT Researchers Visit Mars On Earth”.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site courtesy of NASA: “Future Flight Design”. Written for grades 3-7, kids can design air transportation and aircraft systems.
g Imagining - Book alert: What would life on other planets look like? Forget the little green men, alien life is likely to be completely unrecognizable - we haven’t even discovered all the life on our own planet. The visionary “Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life,” by Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart, offers some of the most radical but scientifically accurate thinking on the possibility of life on other planets ever conceived. Using broad principles of Earthly biology and expanding on them laterally, Cohen and Stewart examine what could be out there. Redefining our whole concept of what ‘life’ is, they ask whether aliens could live on the surface of a star, in the vacuum of space or beneath the ice of a frozen moon. And whether life could exist without carbon or DNA – or even without matter at all. They also look at ‘celebrity aliens’ from books and films – most of which are biologically impossible. Jack Cohen is an ‘alien consultant’ to many writers, advising what an alien could and couldn’t look like. (E.T. go home – you do not pass the test). But this book is as much about the latest discoveries in Earthly biology as well as life on other planets. It’s a serious yet entertaining science book. See article.
g Aftermath - If we find other civilizations, what will we say to them? Crafting a message that represents Earth and humanity and can be understood by another life form is no minor endeavor. SETI Institute psychologist Douglas Vakoch has been charged with this formidable task, and has enlisted the help of mathematicians, artists, astronomers and anthropologists. Hear the messages he helped compose and learn about the thinking behind them here.
Read this blogger’s books
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Snowless Earth, Russia’s plans for manned spaceflight and Robin Whirlybird
Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:
g Stars - Astronomers have discovered an unusual small body orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune, in the region astronomers call the Kuiper belt. This new object is twice as far from the Sun as Neptune and is roughly half the size of Pluto. The body, temporarily code-named "Buffy", has a highly unusual orbit which is difficult to explain using previous theories of the formation of the outer Solar System. See article.
g Abodes - What would the Earth be like if one fine day all the snow melted away? See article. For related story, see “Alaska's Columbia Glacier Continues On Disintegration Course”.
g Life - A catlike creature photographed by camera traps on Borneo Island is likely to be a new species of carnivore, the World Wildlife Fund announced earlier this month. See article.
g Intelligence - Thick-skinned bottle gourds widely used as containers by prehistoric peoples were likely brought to the Americas some 10,000 years ago by individuals who arrived from Asia, according to a new genetic comparison of modern bottle gourds with gourds found at archaeological sites in the Western Hemisphere. The finding solves a longstanding archaeological enigma by explaining how a domesticated variant of a species native to Africa ended up millennia ago in places as far removed as modern-day Florida, Kentucky, Mexico and Peru. See article.
g Message - Most SETI programs scan the sky looking for strong radio signals. Any signals that are deemed interesting are put on a list for follow-up observations weeks, months — even years later. Long delays in verification of potential ET signals sometimes generate tantalizing, but ultimately frustrating, stories. See article. Note: This article is from March 2003.
g Cosmicus - As NASA prepares to once again send humans to the surface of the Moon, Russia is also developing its own plans for future manned spaceflight. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site, courtesy of NASA: “Robin Whirlybird”. For grades K-4, it helps kids learn about rotorcraft in an interactive storybook. It’s available in Spanish at the same site.
g Imagining - Alien design bibliography: When science fiction writers set out to design a world, they usually take care that their physics and astronomy conforms to known science by reading a few physics and astronomy books. But when designing aliens, anything goes, it seems! The problem appears to be that the literature of biology is simply unknown in the SF world. Mention Freeman Dyson or Robert Forward, and most hard SF readers and writers will know whom you are talking about. But mention Steven Vogel or Colin Pennycuick, and you are likely to be rewarded with polite bafflement. Here’s a list of books that’ll give you a solid grounding in biology. See article.
g Aftermath - Even if the public seems less than awestruck by the prospect that alien life is a bunch of microscopic bugs, astrobiologists say unequivocal discovery of microbial life beyond Earth will change human society in profound ways, some unfathomable today. See article. Note: This article is from 2001.
Read this blogger’s books
g Stars - Astronomers have discovered an unusual small body orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune, in the region astronomers call the Kuiper belt. This new object is twice as far from the Sun as Neptune and is roughly half the size of Pluto. The body, temporarily code-named "Buffy", has a highly unusual orbit which is difficult to explain using previous theories of the formation of the outer Solar System. See article.
g Abodes - What would the Earth be like if one fine day all the snow melted away? See article. For related story, see “Alaska's Columbia Glacier Continues On Disintegration Course”.
g Life - A catlike creature photographed by camera traps on Borneo Island is likely to be a new species of carnivore, the World Wildlife Fund announced earlier this month. See article.
g Intelligence - Thick-skinned bottle gourds widely used as containers by prehistoric peoples were likely brought to the Americas some 10,000 years ago by individuals who arrived from Asia, according to a new genetic comparison of modern bottle gourds with gourds found at archaeological sites in the Western Hemisphere. The finding solves a longstanding archaeological enigma by explaining how a domesticated variant of a species native to Africa ended up millennia ago in places as far removed as modern-day Florida, Kentucky, Mexico and Peru. See article.
g Message - Most SETI programs scan the sky looking for strong radio signals. Any signals that are deemed interesting are put on a list for follow-up observations weeks, months — even years later. Long delays in verification of potential ET signals sometimes generate tantalizing, but ultimately frustrating, stories. See article. Note: This article is from March 2003.
g Cosmicus - As NASA prepares to once again send humans to the surface of the Moon, Russia is also developing its own plans for future manned spaceflight. See article.
g Learning - Here’s a neat Web site, courtesy of NASA: “Robin Whirlybird”. For grades K-4, it helps kids learn about rotorcraft in an interactive storybook. It’s available in Spanish at the same site.
g Imagining - Alien design bibliography: When science fiction writers set out to design a world, they usually take care that their physics and astronomy conforms to known science by reading a few physics and astronomy books. But when designing aliens, anything goes, it seems! The problem appears to be that the literature of biology is simply unknown in the SF world. Mention Freeman Dyson or Robert Forward, and most hard SF readers and writers will know whom you are talking about. But mention Steven Vogel or Colin Pennycuick, and you are likely to be rewarded with polite bafflement. Here’s a list of books that’ll give you a solid grounding in biology. See article.
g Aftermath - Even if the public seems less than awestruck by the prospect that alien life is a bunch of microscopic bugs, astrobiologists say unequivocal discovery of microbial life beyond Earth will change human society in profound ways, some unfathomable today. See article. Note: This article is from 2001.
Read this blogger’s books
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
